To be clear, capex didn’t fall to zero. In fact, it continues to be the biggest use of corporate cash. After all, you need to maintain the equipment you’ve got.

And to be fair to corporations, economic growth has been lackluster. And following the financial crisis, which caused financial strain for even the most financially robust companies, it’s understandable why executives and managers have been chickening out when it comes to investing in big growth projects.

More recently, there was the crash in energy prices, and the energy industry accounts for the largest share of the capex spending that occurs in the US.